IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 536 

Supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the Caribbean and 

condemning violations of press freedom and violence against journalists, 

bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to freedom of speech. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 

Mr. SIRES (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. DUNCAN

of South Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the 

Caribbean and condemning violations of press freedom 

and violence against journalists, bloggers, and individuals 

exercising their right to freedom of speech. 

Whereas despite the strong tradition of independent and critical media in many countries in Latin America and the 

Caribbean, journalists in some countries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to violence and government harassment; 

Whereas, on July 29, 2015, the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee convened a hearing titled ‘‘Threats to Press 

Freedom in the Americas’’ and Carlos Lauria, Senior 

Americas Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that ‘‘Scores of journalists have 


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•HRES 536 IH 

been killed and disappeared. Media outlets have been 

bombed and forced into censorship. . . . Censorship due 

to violence in Latin America has reached one of its highest points since most of the region was dominated by 

military rule more than three decades ago.’’; 

Whereas in 2014, Cuban authorities detained 1,817 members 

of civil society, 31 of whom were independent journalists; 

Whereas in Cuba, independent journalists face sustained harassment, including detention and physical abuse from the 

Castro regime; 

Whereas in Ecuador, in September 2015, the government 

took steps to close the sole press freedom monitoring organization, Fundamedios, for exceeding its corporate 

charter, but the government relented in the face of international criticism and potential economic reprisals, demonstrating the value of resolutions such as this; 

Whereas in the country, forced corrections by the government 

have become a means of institutional censorship; 

Whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the 

world for the press; 

Whereas in Mexico, over 50 journalists have been killed or 

have disappeared since 2007, at least 11 reporters have 

been killed since 2011, 4 of them in direct reprisal for 

their work; 

Whereas according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 

at least 4 journalists have been killed in Brazil in 2015, 

many times after being tortured and having their bodies 

mutilated; 

Whereas Evany Jose ́ Metzker, a political blogger in the state 

of Minas Gerais who had been investigating a child prosVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Nov 20, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR536.IH HR536

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•HRES 536 IH 

titution ring, was found decapitated outside the town of 

Padre Paraı ́so; 

Whereas according to the Organization of American States 

(OAS) 2014 Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human rights, journalists covering protests in 

Venezuela were subject to assaults, obstruction, detention, raids, threats, censorship orders, and confiscation or 

destruction of equipment; 

Whereas, on April 21, 2015, a lawsuit within the 29th District Tribunal of the Metropolitan area of Caracas 

charged the journal El Nacional and its Chief Editor 

Miguel Henrique Otero for ‘‘reproducing false information’’ and was forced to flee Venezuela; 

Whereas the Honduran national human rights commissioner 

reported that 8 journalists and social communicators 

were killed as of September, compared with 3 in 2013, 

and dozens of cases in which journalists reported being 

victims of threats and persecution; 

Whereas according to the OAS 2014 Annual Report of the 

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Members 

of the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 

stated the press ‘‘self-censored’’ due to fear of reprisal 

from organized crime or corrupt government officials; 

Whereas in Colombia, there were 98 incidents of violence and 

harassment against journalists, 30 were physically attacked, and 45 were victims of harassment or intimidation due to their reporting; 

Whereas members of illegal armed groups sought to inhibit 

freedom of expression by intimidating, threatening, kidnapping, and killing journalists; 


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•HRES 536 IH 

Whereas national and international NGOs reported that local 

media representatives regularly practiced self-censorship 

because of threats of violence from these groups; 

Whereas according to the OAS 2014 Annual Report of the 

Inter-American Commission on Human rights, throughout 2014, Guatemala presented accounts of cases of harassment and the filing of several criminal complaints 

against a newspaper that criticized the Administration; 

Whereas according to the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 in Nicaragua, 

the government continued to use direct and indirect 

means to pressure and seek to close independent radio 

stations, allegedly for political reasons; 

Whereas according to the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 in Argentina, 

a survey released of 830 journalists throughout the country indicated 53 percent of respondents worked for a 

media outlet that self-censored content; and 

Whereas almost half the journalists surveyed said they selfcensored in their reporting on the national government: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports a free press in Latin America and 

3 the Caribbean and condemns violations of press free4 dom and violence against journalists; 

5 (2) urges countries in the region to implement 

6 recommendations from the Organization of Amer7 ican States’ Office of the Special Rapporteur for 

8 Freedom of Expression to its Member States; 


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•HRES 536 IH 

1 (3) urges countries in Latin America and the 

2 Caribbean to be vocal in condemning violations of 

3 press freedom, violence against journalists, and the 

4 culture of impunity that leads to self-censorship; 

5 (4) urges countries in Latin American and the 

6 Caribbean to uphold the principles outlined in the 

7 Inter-American Democratic Charter and urges their 

8 neighbors in the region to stand by the charter they 

9 are a party to; and 

10 (5) urges the United States Agency for Inter11 national Development and the Department of State 

12 to assist, when appropriate, the media in closed soci13 eties to promote an open and free press. 

Æ 


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